Spirally wound container body



Oct. 18, 1966 w. B. ELAM ETAL 3,279,675

- 'SPIRALLY womw CONTAINER BODY Filed Sept. 1, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1United States Patent 3,279,675 SPIRALLY WOUND CONTAINER BODY WilliamBinford Elam, Oakland, NJ., and Stephen Frederick Jensen, New York,N.Y., assignors to American JCan Company, New York, N.Y., a corporationof New ersey Filed Sept. 1, 1964, Ser. No. 393,538 4 Claims. '(Ci.2294.5)

The present invention relates generally to spirally wound fibrecontainer bodies, and more particularly to improved helical joints forsuchbodies and to an improver method of making the same.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a spirally woundfibre container body having an improved helical liner ply joint which isimpervious to penetration by liquids within the container.

Another object is to provide such a container body wherein the helicalliner ply joint extends radially inwardly from the liner ply to preventany outwardly extending depressions or cavities in the liner ply throughwhich fluids within the container might travel and possibly leak throughthe end seams thereof.

A further object is the provision of an improved method of making such aleak-proof, spirally wound container body.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the present invention will beapparent as it is better understood from the following description,which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses apreferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a composite, spirally wound containerembodying the principles of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 22in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional details showing in successivestages how the liner ply is prelaminated to the inner body ply inaccordance with the method of the instant invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, showing a modified form ofimpervious helical liner ply joint; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, showing another modifiedform of impervious helical liner ply joint.

As a preferred and exemplary embodiment of the instant invention, FIG. 1illustrates a composite container 10 which is formed with a cylindrical,spirally wound body 12 having its opposite ends closed by top and bottomimperforate end members 14 and 16, respectively, which are securedthereto in. fluid-tight end seams 18 which may be of any suitable type,such as crimped single seams of the type disclosed in United StatesPatent 1,920,504 or interfolded double seams of the type disclosed inUnited States Patent 2,633,095.

The container body 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed of a plurality of pliesof material which are helically wound around a winding mandrel (notshown) to form a continuous tube which is subdivided into short sectionsof uniform length, each of which forms a body 12.

As seen in FIG. 2, the body 12 is formed of four helically wound plies,the mutually contacting surfaces of which are secured together bysuitable adhesives (not shown) in order to form a solid, integral bodystructure. These comprise an exterior label ply 20, an outer main fibrebody ply 22, an inner main fibre body ply 24, and a liner ply 26. Thenumber of plies obviously may be varied to meet various packagingrequirements.

The helically disposed edges of the outer main body ply 22 arepreferably disposed in abutting relationship 3,279,675 Patented Oct. 18,1966 to form a helical butt joint 28. The label ply 20 preferablycomprises an outer layer 30 of a thin impervious material such as analuminum foil or plastic which is prelaminated to an inner supportinglayer 32 of a suitable strong backing such as kraft paper. The marginaledge portions of the label ply 20 are disposed in a helical lap joint 34which may be disposed over the helical butt joint 28 of the outer bodyply 22. Interposed between the lapped marginal portions of the label ply20 is a suitable adhesive (not shown), such as a thermoplastic adhesive,which seals the lap joint 34.

The helically disposed edges of the inner body ply 24 are disposed inabutting relationship to form a helical butt joint 36 which is oifsetcircumferentially from the butt joint 28 of the outer body ply 22. Theliner ply 26 preferably comprises an inner layer 38 of a thin, fluidimpervious material such as aluminum foil or plastic which isprelaminated to an outer supporting layer 40 of a strong suitablebacking such as kraft paper.

In order to seal oil the kraft backing layer 40 of the liner ply 26, andthereby prevent the fluid contents (not shown) of the container .10 fromwicking into this kraft layer 40 and thus gaining access to the mainbody plies 22 and 24 and softening them sufliciently to cause weakeningof the container body 12, one of the helical marginal edge portions 42of the helically wound liner ply 26 is hemmed outwardly upon itself toform a hem 44, and this hemmed liner edge portion 42 is lapped over theopposite marginal edge portion 46 of the liner ply 26, as best seen inFIG. 2, thus bringing the impervious layer 38 of the hem 44 intomutually facing engagement with the impervious layer 38 in theunderlapped opposite marginal edge portion 46 to form a helical lapjoint 47. The ends of the edge portions 42, 46 in this fluid imperviouslap joint 47 of the liner ply 26 are disposed substantially in alignmentwith the butt joint 36 of the inner main body p-ly 24.

Preferably, a fluid-impervious adhesive layer 48 is in terposed betweenthe outer surface of the hem 44 and the underlapped marginal portion 46of the liner ply 26, thereby insuring against leakage of the fluidwithin the container through the lap joint 47 and into the body plies22, 24. Although the specific adhesive 48- used in the helical joint 47of the liner ply 26 forms no part of the instant invention, the seal canbe obtained, for example, through the use of a thermoplastic or pressuresensitive adhesive. One suitable adhesive is the hot melt polyamideresin adhesive disclosed in United States Patent 2,840,264. Among othertypes of suitable adhesives are those comprising copolymers of vinylchloride and vinyl acetate, either alone or in admixture with maleicanhydride or vinyl alcohol modified vinyl chloridevinyl acetatecopolymers. I

An adhesive (not shown) of any suitable type, such as dextrin,preferably is interposed between the mutually contacting surfaces of thekraft backing layer 40 in the hem 44 of the inner marginal edge portionof the liner ply 26.

The helical, hemmed lap joint 47 of the liner ply 26 is formed by firstprelaminating the liner ply 26 to the inner body ply 24, as shown inFIG. 3, with one edge 49 of the .ply 26 in alignment with the adjacentedge 50 of the ply An adhesive (not shown) of any suitable type isinterposed between the liner ply 26 and body ply 24, and the helicalmarginal edge portion 42 of the liner ply 26 extends beyond the adjacentedge 5170f the body ply 24, the liner ply 26 being sufliciently widerthan the body ply 24 to provide for the portion 42. A suitable adhesive(not shown), such as dextrin, is then applied in any conventional mannerto the exposed undersurface of the unfolded kraft backing layer 40 ofthe marginal edge portion 42 of the liner ply'26 which is shown in FIG.3.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the marginal edge portion 42 of theliner ply 26 is folded upon itself to bring its edge into substantialengagement with the edge 51 of the body ply 24 to form the hem'44.Theimpervious adhesive layer 48 is then applied to the undersurface ofthe hem 44 in any suitable manner prior to the winding of the laminatedbody ply 24 and liner ply 26 on a conventional winding mandrel (notshown). Thereafter, the prelaminated liner and body plies are advancedonto and wound around the winding mandrel to form the helical,

hemmed lap joint 47 of the liner ply 26 as shown in FIG. 2. V

This method of forming the hemmed lap joint 47 in the liner ply 26 isparticularly advantageous in that, by prelaminating the liner ply 26 andadjacent body ply 24 prior to the time they are wound onto the windingmandrel, the hemmed marginal edge portion 42 of the liner ply 26 ishelically wound on the mandrelin a uniform manner without anypossibility of wrinkling, a condition which might result in leakage atthe wrinkled portionsof the helical lap seam. Also, the hemmed marginaledge por-.

joint 147 for the liner ply 26. This modified liner ply joint 147 issimilar to the form shown in FIG. 2 in that the marginal edge portion142 of the liner ply 26 is folded outwardly to form the hem 144 whichoverlaps the opposite marginal edge portion 146 of the liner ply 26, anda thermo plastic adhesive layer 148 is interposed therebetween. Themodified liner ply joint 147 shown in FIG. 5, how- 'ever, differs fromthe liner ply joint 47 shown in FIG. 2

in that the end portion 150 of the marginal edge 142 of the liner ply 26is disposed beyond the hemmed portion 144 thereof. The end portion 150extends between the adjacent end portions of the inner body ply 24 andis wrapped around the edge 50 of the body ply 24 to terminate betweenthe inner and outer main body plies 24 and 22', re-

spectively. The end portion 150 of the marginal edge portion 142 of theliner ply 26 preferably is adhered in any .suitable manner to the edge51 and the adjacent outer surface 53 of the inner main body ply 24.

This modified helical lap seam 147 of the liner ply 26, as shown in FIG.5, is advantageous in that the end portion 150 of the liner ply 26surrounds and covers the fluid pervious portions 51, 53 of the main bodyply 24, and also,

' since it is tightly wound between the inner and outer body plies 22and 24, the end portion150 serves as an anchor lap seam 147 of the linerply 26'.

A further modified form of impervious helical lap seam for the liner ply26 is shown in FIG. 6, wherein the inner main body ply 24- is providedwith oppositely bevelled or skived edges 240, 241 on the marginal edgeportions thereof. The marginal edge portion 242 of the liner ply 26 isfolded outwardly over itself to form a hem 244 which is lapped over theopposite marginal edge portion 246 to form a helical joint 247. Anadhesive 245 of any suitable type is'interposed between the mutuallycontacting surinsure against leakage through the liner ply seam 247.

The end portion 250 of the marginal edge portion. 242

and the end portion 251 of the marginal edge portion 246 l of the linerply 26 both extend in overlapped relationship between the oppositelybevellededges 240, 241' of the inner body ply 24. A suitable adhesive252, such as dextrin, is interposed between thebalance. of the spacebetween the bevelled edges 240, 241 of the body ply 24 to completelyseal the skived joint 247 thereof.

The bevelled or skived joint 247 in the body ply 24 of FIG. 6 possessesthe advantage of insuring that contact is made between the opposite edgeportions of the inner body ply 24, and any space left between theoppositely bevelled edges 240, 241 is filled by the adhesive 252 and bythe ends 250 and 251 of the marginal liner ply edge portions 242 and246, respectively, thereby preventing the formation of any gaps orspaces between the contiguous edges of the inner body ply 24.

The liner ply joints 47,147,'and 247 shown in FIGS. 2,

5 and 6, respectively, all protrude inwardly from the liner ply 26 andthus leave no outwardly extending depressions to firmly position thehemmed portion 144 of the helical 65' flow and possibly leak through theend seams 18 of the container 10. a

It isto be understood that the modified forms of the liner ply helicaljoints 147 and 247 shown in FIGS-5 and 6 preferably would be made inaccordance with the method shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, i.e.,in each case the liner ply 26 would be prelaminated to the inner bodyply 24, and the hemmed portion would be formed in the. marginal edgeportion of the line-r. ply and wrapped around 1 and adhered totheadjacent edge of the body ply 24 prior to the advancement of theprelaminated liner ply 26 and 1 body ply 24 onto the winding mandrel.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing 1 description and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, andarrangement 1 of the parts without departing from the spirit and scopeof the instant invention or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages,-the for-m hereinbefore described being merely a preferredembodiment thereof.

What is claimed is:

'1. In a spirally wound container body which is formed 3 with at leastone fibre body ply having the helical edges thereof disposed in slightlyspaced relationship,

a helical liner ply formed of a layerof fluid impervious materiallaminated to a pervious backing,

said liner. ply being disposed within the fi-bre .bodyply with its fluidimpervious layer disposed inwardly and with its pervious backing layeradhesively secured to the .fibre body ply, the edge of one of themarginal portions of said liner ply being in substantial alignment withthe adjacent edge of said body P y,

the opposite marginal portion of said liner ply extending beyond theadjacent edge of said body ply and being hemmed outwardly and overlappedover said one marginal portion of said body ply to bring the imperviouslayers of said liner ply marginal portion into face-to-facerelationship,

a fluid-impervious adhesion between said overlapped portions of saidliner ply to form a fluid tight seam therebetween,

said opposite marginal portion of said liner ply extending outwardlyfrom the hemmed and overlapped portion thereof and between said spacedhelical. edges of the body ply and folded into overlapping relationshipagainst the outer surface of the marginal portion of said body ply fromwhich said liner ply marginal portion extends.

2. In a spirally wound container, at least one fibre body ply having itsmarginal portion formed with oppositely bevelled edges which aredisposed in partially spaced relationship in a helical bevelled buttjoint,

a helical liner ply formed of a layer of fluid and impervious materiallaminated to a pervious backing,

said liner ply being disposed within the fibre body ply with its fluidimpervious layer disposed inwardly and with its pervious backing layeradhesively secured to the fibre body ply, the edge of one of themarginal portions of said liner ply being in substantial alignment withthe adjacent edge of said body ply,

the opposite marginal portion of said liner ply extending beyond theadjacent edge of said body ply and being hemmed outwardly and overlappedover said one marginal portion of said liner ply to bring the imperviouslayers of said liner ply marginal portion into face-to-facerelationship,

a fluid-impervious adhesion interposed between said overlapped marginalportions of said liner ply to form a fluid tight seam therebetween,

the ends of said overlapped marginal portion of said liner plysextending into said bevelled joint between the spaced portions of saidbevelled body ply edges.

3. The container of claim 2 wherein an adhesive is interposed betweensaid bevelled edges within said bevelled butt joint of said body ply.

4. In a spiral-1y wound container body which is formed with at least onefibre body ply having a helical bevelled joint, the improvementcomprising:

a helical liner ply formed of a layer of fluid impervious materiallaminated to a pervious backing,

said liner ply being disposed within the fibre body ply with its fluidimpervious layer disposed inwardly and with its pervious backing layeradhesively secured to the fibre body ply, the edge of one of themarginal portions of said liner ply being in substantial alignment withthe said helical joint at the inner surface of said body ply,

said helical bevelled joint extending from the inner surface of saidbody ply outwardly and away from said one marginal portion,

the opposite marginal portion of said liner ply extending beyond saidhelical bevelled joint, substantially all of said opposite marginalportion being hemmed outwardly and overlapped over said one marginalportion of said liner ply to bring the impervious layers of said linerply marginal portions into faceto-face relationship, and

a fluid-impervious adhesive interposed between said overlapped marginalportions of said liner ply to form a fluid-tight seam therebetween.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,885,587 11/1932Burton. 2,008,218 7/ 1935 McColl. 2,237,809 4/ 1941 Bronson 2293.12,315,217 3/1943 Obiglio. 2,393,347 1/1946 Stuart et al 229-31 X3,156,401 11/ 1964 Krause 229-4.5 3,198,416 8/1965 Hickin et a1 229-48 XGEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A SPIRALLY WOUND CONTAINER BODY WHICH IS FORMED WITH AT LEAST ONEFIBRE BODY PLY HAVING THE HELICAL EDGES THEREOF DISPOSED IN SLIGHTLYSPACED RELATIONSHIP, A HELICAL LINER PLY FORMED OF A LAYHER OF FLUIDIMPERVIOUS MATERIAL LAMINATED TO A PREVIOUS BACKING, SAID LINER PLYBEING DISPOSED WITHIN THE FIBRE BODY PLY WITH ITS FLUID IMPERVIOUS LAYERDISPOSED INWARDLY AND WITH ITS PERVIOUS BACKING LAYER ADHESIVELY SECUREDTO THE FIBRE BODY PLY, THE EDGE OF ONE OF THE MARGINAL PORTIONS OF SAIDLINER PLY BEING IN SUBSTANTIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE ADJACENT EDGE OF SAIDBODY PLY, THE OPPOSITE MARGINAL PORTION OF SAID LINER PLY EXTENDINGBEYOND THE ADJACNET EDGE OF SAID BODY PLY AND BEING HEMMED OUTWARDLY ANDOVERLAPPED OVER SAID ONE MARGINAL PORTION OF SAID BODY PLY TO BRING THEIMPERVIOUS LAYERS OF SAID LINER PLY MARGINAL PORTION INTO FACE-TO-FACERELATIONSHIP, A FLUID-IMPERVIOUS ADHESION BETWEEN SAID OVERLAPPEDPORTIONS OF SAID LINER PLY TO FORM A FLUID TIGHT SEAM THEREBETWEEN, SAIDOPPOSITE MARGINAL PORTION OF SAID LINER PLY EXTENDIN OUTWARDLY FROM THEHEMMED AND OVERLAPPED PORTION THEREOF AND BETWEEN SAID SPACED HELICALEDGES OF THE BOIDY PLY AND FOLDED INTO OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP AGAINSTTHE OUTER SURFACE OF THE MARGINAL PORTION OF SAID BODY PLY FROM WHICHSAID LINER PLY MARGINAL PORTION EXTENDS.